Sighting apparatus of ordnance.



A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE. SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 1912. I 1 1 9, Patented June 20, 1916.

8 SHEETS-$HEET l.

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS OF ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6.1912- 11 9 1 8 QQ-Q Patented June 20, 1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F ORDNANCE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 611912. gg mg,Patented June 20,1916.

8 SHEETSSHEET 3.

*9 w 4/ zzwmmfii gf A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F GRDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6. 1912.

1 1 88,@%9 Patented Tl 1116 20, 1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

1%? a II r/r Imentam Witnesses.

wifdzz/ d7 A. T. DAWSON & J. .HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, 19I2.

1,188,649. Patented June 20,1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

r 0 cf 4 M (1/ "5 ma 1 Invenou W'imcsses. v t 4 A A. T. DAWSON & JIHORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F ORDNANCE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6, L912.

1 1 88,049 D Patented June. 20, 1916.

B SHEETSSHEET 6- Inventor-J A. T. DAWSON & J. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS OF ORDNANCE. APPLICATION "LED FEB- 5, l9l2.

1 1 88,049 Patented June 20, 1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

A. T. DIAWSON &1. HORNE.

SIGHTING APPARATUS 0F ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 6, I912- 1 l 8&Q49 Patented June 20, 1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 8- Wz'inesses.

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. Works, Barrow-in-Furness,

THUR TREVOR DAWSON, OF WESTMINSTER,

ENGLAND, ASSIGNURS Bow-mar I s: nss, mms'rnn, anemia.

SIGHTING MP Specification of Letters Patent.

LONDON, AND JAMES HORNE, OE T0 VICKERS LTED, OF ST- ATUS or onmvaiqen.

Patented June as, 11ers.

Application filed February 6, 1912. Serial No. 675,335.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, knight, and JAMES HORNE, bothsubjects of the King of Great Britain, residing, respectively, atVickers House, Broadway, Westminster, in the county of London, England,and Naval Construction in the county of Lancaster, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to theSighting Apparatus of Ordnance, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to sighting apparatus of the kind in which one ofthe prisms or reflectors of the sight is mounted in a holder which,during the elevation of the gun, is displaced about a transversehorizontal aXis through an angle equal to half the angle of elevationand which can be moved about the said axis independently-of the movementof the gun in order to effect range adjustments.

The chief object of our present invention is to avoid the necessity ofemploying large sighting hoods or large openings in the roof plates ofthe turret.

According to this invention the holder of the movable reflector or prismforms part of, or is attached to a lever or the like which is connectedto a. second lever or other suitable device that is adapted to be movedby the gunin elevation and by the range adjusting gear. The said pointof connection of the second lever is preferably such that the aredescribed by the said-point if continued, will pass throug the axis of ithe holder carrying the reflector or prism.

The end of the second lever may be arranged to engage a sliding blockwhich is free to slide radially on a guide formed at the lower end ofthe lever which is attached to the said holder. In effect the system oflevers provides that the angular movement ofthe lever attached to theholder will be of a magnitude exactly half that of the lever moving withthe gun, either for movements of elevation of the ment.

We may mount the lever that moves with the gun, directly on the guntrunnion or we may transmit the movement of the gun in gun or for rangeadjust- I elevation thereto through arockingshaft, the said rockingshaft being connected to the trunnion by a suitable form of parallellink motion. 7

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, we will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawlngs, in which p I Figure 1 is a side elevation,F 2 a sec t1ona1 end elevation, and-Fig. 3 a plan, of one constructionalform of the improved apparatus, which is shown by way of example asapplied to a periscopic form of sight. Fig. 4c, is a sectional planshowing the deflection and drift gear, Fig. 5 is a sectional planshowing a form of the connection between the lever moved by the gun andthe lever appertaining to the movable reflector or prism. Figs. 6 and 7are respectively a side elevation and an end elevatlon of the aforesaidparallel link motion connected to the trunnion. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 areviews similar to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of another constructional form of thesighting apparatus, and Fig. 11 is a transverse section on an enlargedscale showing more clearly the sight elevation and deflecting gearalthough it does not truly represent the relative position of the parts.Fig. 12 is a side elevation, Fig. 13 a plan, and Fig. 14 a frontelevation of a further construetional form of the sighting apparatus.Fig. 15 is a section taken approximately on the line 1-1 of Fig. 12.Figs. 16 and 17 are sections taken on the lines 22 and 33 respectivelyof Fig. 15. Figs. 18 and 19 are respectively a sectional front elevationand a sectional plan of a form of drift gear.

In all these figures like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

A is the sighting periscope supported vertically in a bracket A situatedon the mounting adjacent to the trunnion. A is the eye piece of the saidperiscope.

dil? is the deflection dial and: C the range periscope, of which theformer is fixed and the latter is carried in the rotary holder a".

A represents the aforesaid lever moving with the gun in elevation(herein called a, a represent the two prisms of the the gun lever) and Athe lever (herein called the eriscope lever) connecting the lever A tothe holder a".

In the example illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the periscope lever A iscomposed of two parallel arms joined together at their lower ends. Thesaid arms are situated on each side of the periscope and connected toeach end of the holder a' which is in the form of a sleeve pivoted inbearings formed at the upper end of the periscope. By constructing theperiscope lever A with two parallel arms joined at their lower ends, anytwisting stress which would tend to cause inaccuracy in working isavoided. The lower end of the periscope lever A'* is furnished with acenter pin (1 the axis of which is arranged radial with the axis ofrotation of the sleeve a' and in the same longitudinal plane as thevertical axis of the periscope; this pin thus constitutes the aforesaidradial guide. The gun lever A is formed with a forked end having abearing in each end of the fork to receive the trunnions of a cross-heada (Fig. 5), the said trunnions being parallel to the axis of rotation ofthe sleeve 0/. The said crosshead a? is provided with two internallyprojecting trunnion pins a the axes of which are normal to the trunnionsengagin with the forked end of the gun lever but which lie in the sameplane and intersect with the axes of the said trunnions. internallyprojecting trunnion pins a are arranged to engage with a sliding block Awhich in turn is carried on the center pin a of the periscope lever AThis arrangement of center pin, sliding block and cross-head forms auniversal joint connection between the gun lever A and the periscopelever A, thus enabling the small lat-- eral deflection anddrift-corrections to be applied to the periscope we may alterna-.

tively, if desired, employ a. universal connection of the ball andsocket type for the same purpose.

The gun lever A is carried by a member C attached to one of the guntrunnions 0, and in order to provide for the relative movement of theupper prism a of the periscope with respect to the gun for rangeadjustment, the said lever A is formed with a forward extension or arm Acarrying the sight elevating gear and the range dial C. A worm c on ashaft C of the said gear engages with a worm wheel 0 which is attachedto a spindle a carrying the range dial C and a pinion 0 which engageswith a rack C formed on the member C This member instead of beingattached to the gun.

trunnion might move in conjunction with the gun trunnionsby means of'the parallel link motion hereinafter described. The arrangement is suchthat when the said elevating gear is operated the gun lever A is Thesewheel about the gun trunnion and moves the periscope lever A' andthe-upper prism a y of the periscope about the. axis of rotation of thesleeve of. 4

ln applying the lateral corrections for speed of ship, drift ofprojectile etc, to the periscope A, the latter is angularly displacedabout its vertical axis in the supportingv bracket A, and for this,purpose we provide in the example shown a lateral arm A on theperiscope, engaging with a worm I) carried on a transverse spindle b(Fig. 4) in the bracket A and preferably co-axial with the gun trunnion.This worm b operates in conjunction with the graduated deflection dial Bor the like in the usual way, excepting that it is capable of endwisemovement independentlyuofthe spindle b of the said dial, in order thatthe additional adjustment for drift can be imparted to the Periscope.For this purpose we provide, in the example shown, a worm wheel B coin arecess or, hearing formed co-axially in the boss a of the gun lever A";this worm wheel is screw threaded internally to engage with a screwthreaded plug 6 the inner end of which is formed with a square orrectangular portion 6 engaging in a corresponding hole provided in theboss of of the gun lever. This arrangement prevents rotation of the saidplug but allows it to move endwise when the worm wheel B is rotated by aworm C on the aforesaid shaft C. The inner end of the spindle b of thedeflection worm 6 is prolonged and bears against the end-of the screwedplug 6 a the projectile; by rotating the deflection dial B, the worm band the arm A impart .to

the periscope the necessary correction for speed of ship, etc.

In the example illustratedin Figs. 1 to 3, the gun lever A is shownmounted co-ax'i- ,ally with the gun trunnion, but as aforesaid, themovement of the gun can'be tr.ans mitted to the said gun lever througharocking shaft and aparallel link motion. Figs. 6 and 7 showdiagrammatically the method of transmitting this movement, Drepresenting the aforesaid rocking shaft which has a horizontal guidemember D connected thereto. This guide member is formed with a dovetailguide in which is axial with the trunnion and free to rotate disposed atcrossvat, d" on the trunnion 0.

head having two arms 0!, cl, connected by means of parallel links'd",03", to two pins This arrangement provides a correct and constantparallel motion between the gun and the rocking shaft within the limitsof the gun elevation angles while the aforesaid guide automaticallvcompensates for any slight variation in length likely to exist or takeplace between the center of the trunnion and the axis of the rockingshaft. ,The said rocking shaft is suitably connected to the aforesaidgun lever A".

In the form of sighting apparatus shown in Figs. 8 to 11' the range dial.0 is arranged concentric with the aforesaid rocking shaft D (which is.connected with the trunnion through the arms 03, d and links d", (Z' asshown in Figs. 6 and 7) whereby the only movement the dial receives isone of rotation when the gun is moved in elevation. We may also arrangethe deflection dial B concentric with the range dial and on the samespindle, but in the example shown the range dial and the deflection dialB are mounted on separate spindles. The rocking shaft D is mounted inthe fixed bracket A carrying the periscope and on this shaft is mountedthe gun lever A which is connected to the periscope lever A in a similarmanner to that hereinbefore described.

The relative angular movement between the sight and the gun for rangeadjustment may be effected by worm and spur gearing in the mannerhereinbefore described with reference to the form of apparatus shown inFigs. 1 to 4, but in the example shown the parts are so .constructedthat the relative angular movement is effected by means of a spirallyformed groove C at the back of the range dial C. Advantage may be takento.

so form this groove that an even spacing may be obtained for the rangegraduations on the dial. Rotation of the dial oscillates a lever G whichis fitted at its outer or free end with a roller 0* engaging with thesaid groove, the other end being provided with a toothed quadrant Cgearing with an internally toothed rack 0 formed in the outer Wall of agap 0 (Fig. 8) in the gun lever A", the lever C being supported on apivot 0 carriedby a member I) rigidly attached to the rocking shaft D oralternatively attached directly to the gun trunnion.

In the example shown we employ a modilied form of the hereinbeforedescribed deflection and drift gear, in which instead of rotating theperiscope aboutits vertical axis for lateral movements, we provide aseparate axispin A the periscope A being held in a suitable carrierhinged to the aforesaid axis pin or as shown provided with suitable lugs12* formed on its body to engage with the said axis pin. The frame orbracket A Which is attached to a fixed portion of the adjustments beingeffected about the axis pin A. concentrically with the aforesaid memberD is mounted the gun lever A and also the range dial C, the rotation ofwhich effects, by means of the aforesaid spiral groove C and the lever Cthe relative angular adjustment for range between the member D carriedon the rocking shaft D and the gun lever A*, the latter in turn movingthe periscope lever A attached to the sleeve a' at the upper end of theperiscope. The range adjusting gear, carried by the member D is shown asof the usual form comprising a hand wheel C which rotates a shaftcarrying a worm c which gears with a worm wheel a at the back of therange dial C. The rotation of the range dial is thereby efiected, therange graduations being read by means of an index d (Fig. 8) attached tothe member D on the rocking Shaft D. Rotation of this range dial asaforesaid effects an oscillatory movement of the levers A. and A therebyaltering the angular relationship between the prism a and the gun.

The deflection and drift gear is attached to the supporting frame orbracket A". In this gear, as shown, we employ the usual form of worm bwhich is connected to a spindle carrying the dial B. This worm gearswith the worm sector A which is pivoted concentrically with the axis pinA of the periscope and which has a rearward extension a (Fig. 8) toengage a suitable projection or the like formed on the lower surface ofthe horizontal branch of the periscope. Loosely mounted on the boss ofthe pointer H (which boss or sleeve is in turn loosely carried by thespindle 7)) is a pinion b which engages with a rack formed on the gunlever A". The said pinion is as shown in Fig. 11 formed with anexternally screwthreaded sleeve 6 around which is disposed an internallyscrew threaded sleeve b having a pinion b engaging with a rack formed onthe member D The pinion b with the sleeve 6 is arranged so; as to befree to rotate in its bearing but is held against end- Wise movement bycollars or other suitable means. When the gun is elevated, therebycausing rotary movement of the rocking shaft D, the two pinions merelyrotate together, but if range adjustment be applied, a differentialaction is produced between the pinions I), b which by means of thescrewthreaded sleeves b ,-b causes an endwise movement of the spindle band its worm Z) to take place, which in turn deflects the sight line ofthe periscope as aforesaid, to compensate for drift.

In the construction shown in Figs. 12 to 19 angular movement is impartedto the upper prism or reflector of the periscope by means ofduplicateperiscope levers A"" as hereinbefore described, but the saidlevers have at their lower ends suitable cam shaped grooves or s1ots a-engaging with pins aPF on a cross-head A or the like carried on avertical guide stem A or similar support arranged I A about which theperiscope is angularly.

centrally with the aforesaid axis pin displaced for deflectingadjustments and drift; The said cross-head A is'so arranged as to movevertically in the hollowaxis pin Ac for alterations in elevation orrange ad- I to the shaft 19) engagin'gwith a rotary B mounted on aspindle 6 carrying a pinion b gearing with a toothedsegment B formed onthe member B rocking shaft v The. cross-head A? is connected thecross-pin and connecting rods as shown to arms D forming part of atoothed. seg- I segment 'A, the

.tion' gear is formed with a rare justments and the pins 0bby'm'oving-in the grooves a of the said levers produce the necessaryangular movement of the sleeve;

(wand the tilting'of the'upper prism ar by means ofconnected to the D.The said spindle 6 is screwed internally to receive a'screwed pin bforming part of a pinion b gearing with a toothed segment d moving withthe aforesaid toothed segment d actuated by the range setting handle C".Thus when there is any relative movement between the segments 13 and d(i. 6'. when the sight is being set for range) the cylindrical rack Bmoves longitudinally, thereby moving the plate B together with thedeflection gear and imparting the necessary correction for drift to theperiscope. I

\Ve do not confine ourselves to the particular forms of range adjustinggear or deflection apparatus and other constructional parts abovedescribed as these may-be considerably varied without departing from ourinvention.

Ve may provide the improved sighting apparatus with calibrating devicesof any well known type for eflecting the necessary corrections forchanges in muzzle velocity or temperature of charge etc. We may alsoemploy our well known system of follow-- the-pointer gear in conjunctionwith the range and deflection dials.

What we and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:I

I. In sighting apparatus for ordnance, the: comhinafim with a,vertically stationary eye piece of the sight, a.- holder carrying a movable reflector through which the observed latter being connected to Thesaid .deflecj k member b (Figs. 13 and cylindrical rack object isreflected to the eyepiece, and a bracket moving with the gun inhorizontal Jtraining only in which bracket the holder is rotatablymounted so as to move about a vertical axis, of ame'mber connected tosaid holder, a second member connected to the first mentioned member,means for connectinghsaid secondg member to a part moving wit moveduring the range adjustments of the sight and means for causing thereflector '2. In si for ordnance,

htj'ng apparatus the combination with a vertically stationary eye-pieceof thesight'and a holder. carrying a movable reflectorjthrough which theob the gun in elevationand depression, means for causing sald secondmember to served object. isdeflected to the, eye-piece,

of a member connected to said holder, de-

fiectionadjusting gearjfor'the sighting apg paratus, means for causingsaid member to move during the deflection adjustments of the sightingapparatus, a second member,

means for causing saidlsecond' member to I move during the elevation, ofthegun and the range adjustments of the I sighting appa- I 'ratus, and auniversal joint'for connecting I said member ,to thefirst-mentionedmember at'a point which is such that the are de scribed by the saidpoint about the axis of rotation'of the second m mber will, if con- ,i

tinned, pass'through the axis of the holder.

, 3, In periscopic sighting ordnance, the combination with a verticallystationary eye piece of the periscope and a holder carrying a movablereflector through which the observed object is reflected to the eyepiece, of a member connected to said holder, a rockin shaft, parallellevers connecting said sha with one of the trunnions so that said shaftmoves in unison with the trunnion, a second member mounted co-axiallywith said shaft, means for connecting said second member to the firstmentioned member, so that the first mentioned member moves through halfthe angle of the second member, a part fixed to said shaft, rangeadjusting gear interposed between said part and the second member, anddeflection adjusting gear interposed between the two members.

4. In periscopic sighting apparatus for ordnance, the combination avertically stationary eye piece of the eriscope and, a holder earn alefledmz" which the object; is to the eye piece, ofatewercmnmteditnssidlholder,

lever, so that the first moves half the angle of rmmbqr, a member the melewntm ange ad usting mterposedbetwmmdmpibermdthe see lever, and gearmpna'ng a range apparatus for W I stationary eye piece of the periscopeand a having a; cam groove, means carried-by said mg angular movementsof the range dial. Y

5. In periscopic sighting apparatus for ordnance, the combination with-a vertically holder carrying a movable reflector throu h which theobserved object is reflected to t e eye piece, of a lever connected tosaid holder,

a second lever connected to the first mentioned lever, a member movingwith the gun in elevation, range adjusting gear interposed between saidmember and second lever, de-

flection adjusting gear comprising a toothed are connected to'sa1dperiscope, a deflection "pivot for the periscope and a worm gearing withsaid toothed are for rocklng the penscope about said pivot,'dr1ft gearcomprising a pinion mounted on said worm, a screw threaded boss on sandmounted on the boss of the first mentioned pinion, a second pinionpinion and rack teeth on the second lever said member during-rangeadjustments the worm will be moved axially to rock the periscope aboutits deflection pivot.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON. JAMES HORNE. Witnesses to signature of ArthurTrevor Dawson:

HENRY Kmo, J NO. R. CABWELL. v 4 By J ames- Horne in the presence of- G.ATKmsoN, HENRY I. McDowm-n.

